#aknyan

"W-what is it that you want to talk to me about?" As Seven refused to join you in the bedroom, you decided to sit on the corridor, directly across from him despite his insistence on moving the conversation to the living room. "Actually, before that... do we have to sit this close together? Not that I complain but..." The hallway was quite cramped, hence the distance between your faces was extremely close. Having your backs against the walls, facing each other, you intentionally squeeze in as close to him as you could. Not that there's a special reason, you just simply wanted to sit next to him, he's warm after all.

"If you're not going to complain, then there's no need to worry about it." You said calmly while casually putting on a coat over your shoulders. Watching him struggled to talk back, then finally gave up was entertaining enough for you to prolong the silence for a while before you started talking.

"You know how I feel about you, right?" There you went, straight to the point, as blunt as you could be. It was probably appropriate to assume Seven was totally thrown off guard by your question and the way you asked it. His long gaze was to make sure he heard it right. Your perfect composure and unchanging expression told him that you were either too shameless or you were incredibly good at concealing your feelings. Well, it could also be both...

"...W-why ar-" Before he got the chance to question, you interrupted him with a finger resting a few centimetres away from his lips. "Just say yes or no. No unnecessary words."

He paused for a few seconds in hesitation before giving you a confirming nod, "Yes..."

"But I don't think you get it." You looked at him, your gaze was too intense it felt like it could pierce right through his heart. "She was just being nice to me. She will soon forget about me after I disappear from her life. She is only interested in the cheerful 707 in the chatroom. She deserves someone better." The more you said, the wider his eyes became. "H-how..?? How did you?"

"Sound familiar?" You gave him a cold smile. You hate this bitterness in your heart as you recalled the confession he made while you were pretending to sleep.

"I am a bit hurt when you take my feelings so lightly and irresponsibly..." You intentionally sounded like you were about to cry, just to see him getting flustered at your words. "A-ah... No, I-i didn't mean it that way... I..I.."

"Just joking!" You smiled but your conscience throbbed a little out of guilt. You knew he had a hard time dealing with his own problems. Judging by his excessive defence whenever you tried to get closer, he must not be used to talk about feelings and expose his vulnerability to other people. Suddenly having someone like you being all over him must have put him in confusion and possibly fear. "Don't take it too seriously." You gently stroked his hand to comfort him.

"..." While the stun effect still lasts on Seven, you carried on.

"You know, it is okay to freak out and it is okay to feel defensive. Your reaction is totally normal and understandable. It was my bad, I was being too aggressive and impatient with my methods of approaching you. To be honest, I don't really know how to do this right either, since this is probably the very first time in my life that I actually fought for something I like." You looked at him with the softest smile you have ever given someone and asked. "Do you mind listening to my story?"

"Of course not." He seemed to have loosened up a bit, not even realised that you were still holding onto his big and warm hand.

"I have always been an easy-going child growing up. I ate anything my parents gave me. I took every single class they sent me to. I wore exactly what my sister wore, and I did whatever I was told to do. Because it was convenient. I didn't have to make a choice since they were all made for me. And because I didn't make the choice, if things turn out badly, I didn't have any expectation in the first place anyway." You took a sip of water to clear your throat and continued. "You see, I thought it was the best way to deal with things. There was no risk in anything. I didn't have to worry about upsetting my parents for not doing the things they want, nor did I have to worry about the consequences of the choices I made. But here's the thing, since I never actually made a choice for myself, I don't even know what's it like to want something."

"Is it absurd, when I could discuss with you about environmental problems around the world in Arabic and Russian at the age of 10 and I couldn't answer the question, 'What's your favourite colour?'? I was no more or less of a machine at that point in my life. When I was finally forced to make a decision on what I wanted to do with my life. I once again chose the easy path. Without even thinking about it, I instantly decided to follow my mother career path. Why? Because it was convenient." You signed.

"Seven, if you ever thought that I am a bright lovely innocent girl, please scrap that image out of your head before it hurts you. I am just a twisted, selfish and irresponsible brat who's struggling to even face her own fears and desires. I appreciated that you thought so highly of me, but just like everyone else, I am just mere human. I made mistakes and I am still figuring out what are the right things to do with my life. But the same also applies to you Seven, do realise that you are also human. And that it is okay to make mistakes. Don't be so harsh on yourself." The corridor light was off, but you could still see his golden eyes swimming with emotions under the silver light of the moon. You might look shameless to people at times, but it was definitely not easy for you to show your vulnerable side to others. "Yes, you might have put me in danger by letting me live with a bomb. However, you must also remember that I also made the decision in coming here and stay. You might have known the danger beforehand but it was me who took the risk and put my life on the line."

"What I am trying to say is, stop blaming yourself. About your brother, about me, about everything. Whatever happened, happened. There's no point in beating yourself over it. What you need right now is the courage to move forward and accept bits of help from others. You have Jumin, and the wonderful Jaehee and Zen, and Yoosung as an endless source of entertainment. You are not alone. Oh and don't forget Elly." Totally unexpected, he cracked up at the last name you mentioned.

"Pft! Ha ha ha!" The laughter seemed to have washed the tension away from the conversation. "How can I forget about my lovely Elly? You know what, you are right, I need to straighten up and seriously think about the intruding tactics. I am not gonna go anywhere at this point right?"

Brothers Grimms Fairytale Retelling BLUEBEARD

Feudal Japan, Early Sengoku Period, Yodo Domain

Characters:

- Shimo - The Indigo Widower’s Last Wife - a fabric merchant’s only daughter. Her older brothers were all drafted and died on the battlefield. She keeps a tanto blade gifted to her by her brothers as a lucky charm and a means of protection.

- Yodo no Kiso - Yodo Domain’s Daimyo, who’s obsessed with indigo color and married multiple wives, all have died due to unknown causes. He is always seen wearing a black tengu mask with indigo dyed beard and eye brows.

- Inarigami - the God of the local Inari Shrine, who is known for blessing and protecting women, children, farmers. They are a celestial non-binary fox being who has cultivated for a thousand years and achieved immortality and magical powers.

A. Art Directional Boards

B. Style References

C. Character Silhouettes

D. Sketches

E. Props

Something must have happened to Ray. You have no ideas what, specifically, but this nonstop throbbing pain in your chest tells you it ain't nothing good...

You haven't seen him in the last few days, and he barely talked to you either. Have something severe came up? It's not unusual for you to see him stays up terribly late, or even pulls several all-nighter for the sake of his work. Even when it's terrifying and heartbreaking to witness, you know it's the norm for him. However, the point is, no matter how busy and tired he is, he would always try to sneak a few phone calls, chats or even showing up in person everyday just to be able to see you and talk to you. Such dedication can't simply be gone in a blink of an eye can it?

Additionally, the Savior has requested you not to leave the room for the time being, due to the preparation of a very important upcoming ceremony. Usually she would just explain to you what those ceremonies are all about, since you were "one with Mint Eye", according to her words. No explanation and attempt to lock you up? Something about this is fishy.

You are glad you stayed, because this is the unwanted situation you predicted that might happen when the Savior crosses the line. That woman better not be laying a finger on your fluffy cinnamon roll, or she shall pay. An extravagantly pricey price, indeed.

You learned about what the Mint Eye was all about not so long after setting your foot inside this building. At first, you were invited here because Ray told you someone really important to him wanted to see you. You met the Savior and had a pleasant chat with her over sweets and tea. Initially she appeared to be quite a decent person, elegant and poised. Also a really good talker who can charm people with her soft buttery voice. The Savior mentioned how Ray talked about you a lot, and that he never had so much of an interest in anyone before you, which was surprisingly heartwarming to hear. A little longer into the conversation, she apologized if she might be mistaken but she said that she could feel a sense of sorrow and torment sitting at the bottom of your eyes, that she perhaps understand what you were going through and could help.

"How did you know? Are you a psychic? Oh my god, let's talk about it!" Said nobody with common sense ever. For the least, YOU did NOT say that. As soon as she apologized your defense immediately raised. This woman is sketchy. She's either a super sweet, genuine woman with an incredible sixth sense, or she's a real expert in emotional manipulating and a fraud. A woman, wearing a mask in broad day light, being called the Savior, living in the middle of nowhere, to which visitor must wear a blindfoldr during transportation. Of course she's sketchy.

However, seeing how fond of her Ray was kept you feeling uneasy. So you decided to go along with the woman to see what kind of surprise she has up her sleeves. You ended up being a residence in this building, and thanks to the Lord of Fate and your wonderful flawless acting skills, a high ranked member even. You are also the only official member who has not carried out the welcome ritual due to a few special reasons. You're awakened enough to not having to drink the elixir, as the Savior said only those who are lost in the mist of stupidity have to drink the elixir. Meanwhile, you're like the moon, shining brightly in the dark, you share the visions she has, so you don't need those.

To be honest after getting to know her for a while, you don't specifically hate her. There are days that you can both share quite a decent conversation, in which has a lot of explanation on how and why she views the world the way it is. But you said it, she's sketchy and could be a threat to Ray, so she's definitely not on your friend list. She's just happened to not be on your black list either.

Today is probably the last day you both could have a nice tea time together, because in the next few hours things are going to get messy.

You might not know much about hacking a computer, but you do know a one or two things about hacking a door. A plan, some skills and a fearless heart is all you need. Under a few seconds of picking the lock, the door to the balcony swings open. Thanks to those hellish training days mom put you both through, survival skills can finally prove their usefulness and save the day. The main door of the room leads to the hallway, which of course is monitored by a shit loads of security cameras and believers patrolling along both ends. Escaping through the main door? Not the smartest move.

The balcony on the other hand, is watched by only one camera from 10m away and it of course has a loophole, which is every few minutes it will turn to a side and you have 10 seconds to escape before it snapped back into place. Your room is on the third floor, which you bet the Savior might have thought was a smart move to stop someone from escaping. Too bad, you are not the typical someone she had in mind. You might not be the best at jumping and landing on the ground from a great height, but you do know how to parkour. So you are pretty good with long jumps from one place to another, and a good example would be from a balcony to the tall oak tree right next to it.

You successfully landed on the thick branch of the tree before the camera switched back its original position. From there you can get down to the ground and sneak behind the bushes. You must find out what is going on with Ray and everything here.

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